According to the tradition of Adepts, the A.·.A.·.
is the Supreme and Eternal Inner School of initiates who have at all times
overseen the evolution of consciousness on this planet. This Holy
Order has assumed various guises and names throughout the history of mankind.
Aiwass, the Minister of Hoor-paar-kraat, who issued The Book of the Law
to mankind, was sent by the Secret Chiefs of the A.·.A.·.
in order to announce the advent of the Aeon of Horus. The A.·.A.·.
is considered to be the "Order of all Orders," that is, the True Inner
Order for which all other Orders and paths are but the preparation.

The A.·.A.·. or Argenteum Astrum
was originally the name of the Golden Dawn's invisible Third Order.
After the dissolution of the Golden Dawn in the early 1900s, the A.·.A.·.
was without an Outer Order until after the Equinox of the Gods when Frater
P. (Aleister Crowley) and Frater D.D.S. (George Cecil Jones) created the
current outer form in 1906 e.v.

There
is some speculation whether Argenteum Astrum, the Latin for "Silver
Star" is the True name of the A.·.A.·. in its current manifestation.
However, if there is a secret meaning of these letters, it is known only
to initiates.

The A.·.A.·. is different from many
other initiatory systems in that it concerns the individual's development
and initiation on a personal basis. During his passage from "Student"
to "Ipsissimus", the individual has no official contact of any kind with
any other person within the A.·.A.·. except the Neophyte
who introduces him, and any Student(s) whom he may introduce after becoming
a Neophyte. The succession of grades in the A.·.A.·.
is based upon the model of the Qabalistic Tree of Life, a system of grades
inherited from the Rosicrucians.

The fame and appeal of the A.·.A.·.,
as well as the fact that it has no official head or governing body, has
led to much lore and misconceptions in regard to the Order. It is
unfortunate that some of these untruths may have discouraged sincere and
deserving students. One of the most widespread falsehoods is that
a prospective student should not seek the Order, rather that when the student
is truly ready for it, the Order will find them. The application
for the Probationer states, "Let any person be received by a Neophyte..."
Admission into the A.·.A.·. is not difficult, and many lineages
can be contacted through the Internet. Despite many myths, the A.·.A.·.
is not extremely selective and strictly secret. It is true that since
1912, the "open door" policy of the A.·.A.·. is no longer
in effect, but the customary student period of at least three months is
hardly an ordeal to the dedicated seeker.

Since the death of Aleister Crowley in 1947, there have been no Universal
Chiefs in the A.·.A.·.. Yet the
Order still continues today according to the original structure in which
a member of sufficient grade may admit others to the Order.

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